It seemed improbable from the start that Ghana’s national baseball team would want to travel from west Africa to Edmonton for an exhibition game against the Prospects. Eleven-thousand kilometres for a friendly?

It comes as less of a surprise to hear that the Rising Stars of Ghana will not be arriving in Edmonton on Thursday or playing the Prospects at Re/Max Field on Monday, after all. A new federal government elected in December has apparently wrapped the visa acquisition process in thick red tape, and the team simply ran out of time to finalize its travel plans.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has asked the Black Stars not to be influenced by financial considerations but be prepared to sacrifice a little to bring back the excitement that characterised the team sometime past.

He said it was a privilege to be selected out of over 24 million people to play for the national team and urged them to kill themselves to pick the three maximum points in the AFCON Cameroun 2019 qualifier against the Walias of Ethiopia at the Baba Yara Stadium tomorrow.

Premier League leaders, WAFA, extended their lead after holding Liberty Professionals to a goalless draw at the Carl Reindolf Park at Dansoman in Accra yesterday.

Liberty, who needed a win badly to keep their survival hopes alive, dominated the game in both halves and pressed the visitors in the first half for the opener.

A brace each from defender Vincent Atinga and striker Kwame Kizito saw Hearts of Oak whitewash a listless Bolga AllStars 4-0 in their 18th week Ghana Premier League fixture at the Accra Stadium yesterday.

The massive loss put AllStars neck deep into relegation with just 11 points, while Hearts increased their tally to 30 points and also atoned for the 5-0 drubbing at the hands of WAFA at Sogakope last Sunday.

Former captains of the Black Stars, Abedi Ayew "Pele" and Stephen Appiah will be celebrated on June 13 at the second edition Calcio Trade Ball, an event which honours Ghanaian footballers who have played in Italy.

A statement issued by the Embassy of Italy said the event will gather the sport, business, media and diplomatic communities at the residence of the Ambassador of Italy, Mr Giovanni Favilli in Accra.

A Swedish court on Friday sentenced Ghanaian football player in Sweden’s second division to two years in prison for raping and beating his wife.

After serving his sentence, 22-year-old Kwame Bonsu, who played for the Gefle IF club, will be expelled from the Scandinavian country where he has lived in since 2013, the Gavle District Court said.

A paralympic athlete, Mr Maclean Atsu Dzidzienyo has dedicated two medals to management and staff of CAL bank at a ceremony in Accra. The gesture was to show appreciation to the bank for supporting him to participate in the IPC Desert Challenge Games in Arizona, USA this year.

According to Mr Dzidzienyo, he managed to compete in three of the track events - the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 meters men’s T53 category and qualified to compete in the world Paralympic championship in London.

The president of the Ghana Shooting Sports Federation (GSSF), Cillian Walsh, has been elected to serve on the Board of the Africa Shooting Sports Federation (ASSF) at a General Meeting in Cairo, Egypt, last month.

Walsh's inclusion in the ASSF internal body reflects his strong organisational abilities and understanding of sports administration despite his disqualification from the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) elections held recently on nationality grounds.

Black Stars coach, Kwasi Appiah, has said the introduction of new players into the team was part of his succession plan for the Stars for the next 10 years.

The plan, structured into short, medium to long term has a space for the silver-winning Africa Under-17 national team, the Black Starlets, who would be the lynchpin around which the long term plan would be built.

Sulley Muntari has confessed he has missed playing for Ghana at the international level three years after being suspended from the Black Stars.

The midfielder and his counterpart Kevin-Prince Boateng fell out with Coach Kwasi Appiah at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They were handed indefinite suspensions for allegedly physically attacking Black Stars management members, including Moses Armah (Mospacka).

The ongoing table tennis league continues with some thrilling week six fixtures at the D.G. Hathiramani Hall of the Accra Sports Stadium tomorrow.

Table toppers, Tesano Spinners, will seek to maintain their lead when they face Synergy in a first round match, with three rounds of matches to play.

The General Secretary of the Professional Football Association of Ghana (PFAG), Tony Baffoe, has advocated medical care insurances for the various clubs and players in the country.

Ghanaian undefeated boxer Isaac "Royal Storm" Dogboe says he expects a tough bout against Argentine's Javier Chacon when they lock horns in a WBO International Super Bantamweight Championship at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra on June 22.

Dogboe, who holds a record 16 wins from 16 fights, is expected to slug it out with the Argentinian (25 wins, 3 loss and a draw in 29 fights) in a Final Eliminator towards a world title shot.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Kwame Asiamah has directed that an audit should be conducted to ascertain the state of $3 million worth of equipment initially acquired for the construction of the University of Ghana stadium.

Construction of the multi-million dollar stadium was started in 2004 by CONSAR Limited under the administration of former President John Agyekum Kuffuor.

A former vice chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Nana Yaw Owusu, has assured the Black Stars of massive support to defeat the Walias of Ethiopia when they clash on Sunday in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

He said Kumasi had always been a favourable ground for the Stars and as such he was confident the fans would turn out in their numbers to give the team the needed support for victory.